baking, cooking, trying to hold it all together

My to-bake list

This one was a birthday cake – I like to call it ‘Two Fingers Up At Old Age’

Most normal people have a to-do list. I, on the other hand, have a mental list of baked goods I intend to make, stashed in the middle left hand side of my brain (right next to French irregular verbs) waiting for the time, inclination and occasion to collide so I can get to work. The list is long and the trouble is taking the risk to try something new which might be a total fail in the looks department, or, worse still, not measure up in the taste department. Like going to a much-loved restaurant and ordering your favourite dish, it’s hard to deviate from what you know and what you know is good. Like an old woman’s chin hair, still the list grows (I had to ditch Pinterest due to aspirational overload), but I’ll try to keep it to an express checkout of 10 items or less*, specifically 5:

Cinnamon rolls – not polite pretty ones; really filthy, fat but fluffy, oozing with icing ones. And homemade strawberry butter. These necessitate some kind of special breakfast/brunch occasion; bearing in mind romantic breakfasts in bed are a thing of the past – apart from when I had coco pops brought up one morning with a strawberry perched on the edge of the bowl – I can imagine these being a Sunday morning project. But only if I know other people are coming over in case I eat them all like I did when I made bagels. Must make more bagels too.

All things funfetti – I remember seeing funfetti cakes in America for the first time and wondered why anyone would want to make or eat them. Then I got it; it’s not always about taste, sometimes you just want to eat something fun, and a rainbow-speckled, sprinkled cake doesn’t just scream fun; it roars it. Not that you’re limited to sponge – I’ve seen cookies, ice cream, cheesecake and pancakes. I can also imagine waffles. Ding. Dong.

Pretzels – or Brezeln if you’re in Southern Germany. I had a Brezel problem during a year abroad in Stuttgart. Sometimes like a three-a-day habit, fuelled by Kamps bakeries in train stations. I’m not proud, I probably put on at least half a stone that year. But man, when the waft hits you from the bakery, you’re powerless. Covered in salt and spread with soft butter, the most difficult part of the Laugenbrezel recipe for these chewy knots looks like the 10 minutes cooling time at the end.

Further adventures in doughnuts – I bought one of these pans earlier this year and enjoyed a brief one-day-stand with doughnuts. It was fine as a first foray, but I’d much prefer a more long-term relationship, so I think I’m now ready to take that step and maybe even deep fry rather than bake. Partly inspired by our recent visit to Dublin and accidental stumble upon the awesome Offbeat Donut Co now all I need to do is find a good recipe. Warning: do not follow @offbeatdonuts on Twitter unless you can get down to Pearse Street sharpish. Also, you will drool on whatever device you’re viewing, so maybe put some kind of bib under your chin.

More overload/melt cakes – Katherine Sabbath’s designs are so pretty and I don’t even pretend I could recreate anything similar, but I love these from Layercake Lisburn too and it’s more a stab at a tribute** than anything else. I’ve had a go at a few of these, but definitely want to experiment with colour and melts – if the Katherine Sabbath homepage isn’t enough to make you smile you are no fun.

P.S. My camera skills are poor; Mr T is giving me a crash course in composition soon. Also, I have left THE brownies off the list as you already know about that.

*yes, I know it should be 10 items or fewer.

**With the disclaimer that I’m not a professional baker and not trying to rip anyone off.